Cristiano Ronaldo was the star of the show as Portugal showed their quality to knock out the Netherlands with a 2-1 victory at the 2012 European Championships on Sunday.
Rafael van der Vaart had put the Dutch ahead early on, before the Real Madrid superstar responded with goals in either half as the Portuguese deservedly got the win they needed to progress.
Portugal go through in second spot in Group B, behind Germany who won all three of their group games and now face Greece. Ronaldo’s side’s next task is against Czech Republic.
“The team were spectacular and we deserve congratulations – we have achieved our big aim of qualifying for the quarter-finals,” Ronaldo told reporters.
Meanwhile, Portugal coach Paulo Bento refused to single out Ronaldo but was full of praise for his players.
“We’ve already said we have a certain style of play, an identity and specific ideas. The players really did what we asked them to do. Today we can talk about brilliance. It was the best game – apart from the first 12 minutes – of our tournament so far,” he said.
“We’ve been loyal to our spirit and that’s what we’re proud of. We’ve always shown we have the capability of responding and that we don’t let up.”
On the topic of their quarter-final with the Czechs, who also lost their opening group game, before recording back-to-back wins, he added: “We don’t claim to be favourites and it won’t be easy.
“We have to keep up our work and the quality that we have shown so far. Then maybe we can even reach the semi-finals.”
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